HYPE surged 8.9% to $38.96 on May 25 as a whale trader made a massive $1 billion Bitcoin short and the platform saw record activity.

After a $1 billion Bitcoin short by trader James Wynn, known as “moonpig”, the decentralized derivatives exchange is in the spotlight.

Decentralized derivatives exchange Hyperliquid (CRYPTO: HYPE) is up 8.9% after a trader known as "moonpig" made a $1 billion Bitcoin short and the platform saw record activity.

What Happened: Hyperliquid, a decentralized derivatives exchange running on the Hyperledger fabric, is coming into the spotlight as trader James Wynn, aka "moonpig", made a massive $1 billion Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) short.

Wynn, a known whale trader on Hyperliquid, is no stranger to large-scale trades. On Saturday, he closed a leveraged $1.2 billion long Bitcoin position, which is expected to generate around $17.5 million in profit for the trader.

This level of trading activity is noteworthy, especially in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, where such large-scale trades are less common. It showcases the potential of DeFi protocols to support substantial financial transactions.

After closing the long position at a high of $111,000, which netted him an estimated $17.5 million in profit, "moonpig" quickly pivoted and opened a $1 billion short on Sunday at around $107,077.

The trader used 40x leverage for the short position and had to stake almost $50 million of his own wallet via cross-margin to secure the trade, showcasing the high stakes involved in his trading activities.

At the time of writing, "moonpig's" short position is still open, and it is estimated to have generated around $3 million in profit so far. The liquidation threshold for the short is at $110,446.

"Moonpig" is a regular trader on Hyperliquid and has been spotted making other large trades in recent months. In March, he closed a large ETH trade, and in February, he was seen trading another large BTC long.

Hyperliquid’s Growth Illuminated by LunarCrush DataHyperliquid’s growth isn’t just financial – it’s social. LunarCrush data shows HYPE’s social engagements surged 24.3 million in one month to 25.6 million total, with 21,000 mentions from 5,600 unique creators.

This surge in online activity reflects the growing community interest in Hyperliquid and contributes to the token’s price move.

Key stats:

25.6 million social engagements (+24.3M monthly)

21,000 direct mentions (+17,300 monthly)

5,600 unique content creators (+3,900 monthly)

Record open interest over $1.3 billion

With these numbers and big leveraged trades and market cap growth Hyperliquid is becoming a major player in decentralized derivatives. The next few weeks will tell if this can be sustained through market volatility.

Hyperliquid’s growing ecosystem with whale traders and social buzz is making it a DeFi hub. HYPE is at $38.96, will this be a trend or a peak?